BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
As evidenced by the German patent No. DE 2802269, it has been proposed in the prior art to provide a resilient electrical contact having a clamping edge that is directed toward the periphery of a conductor, thereby to engage the same to prevent withdrawal of the conductor from the housing within which the contact is mounted. The clamping leg is adapted to be displaced toward a released position relative to the conductor by an operating tool. This arrangement possesses the drawback of the possibility of damage to the conductor by the clamping edge during the withdrawal of the conductor from the contact housing. Furthermore, the clamping member has a rather complicated structure owing to the requirement of a special activation bracket and because, in the front region of the connector chamber, a separate access opening is required through which the activation tool is inserted during movement toward the activation bracket.
On the other hand, as proposed in the German patent No. 2062158, the free end of the clamping leg may be bent slightly in an attempt to avoid damage to conductor during its withdrawal from the contact housing. This structure has the drawback that the activating portions are provided on the contact leg itself for lateral activation or for activation from above, thereby complicating the contact design but also, in the case of lateral arrangement, makes the provision of multi-row design impossible.
The present invention was developed to avoid the above and other drawbacks of the known connection art.